title: Focused ultrasound-mediated suppression of chemically-induced acute epileptic EEG activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder, which is attributed to uncontrollable abnormal hyper-excitability of neurons. We investigated the feasibility of using low-intensity, pulsed radiation of focused ultrasound (FUS) to non-invasively suppress epileptic activity in an animal model (rat), which was induced by the intraperitonial injection of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  After the onset of induced seizures, FUS was transcranially administered to the brain twice for three minutes each while undergoing electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring. An air-backed, spherical segment ultrasound transducer (diameter: 6 cm; radius-of-curvature: 7 cm) operating at a fundamental frequency of 690 KHz was used to deliver a train of 0.5 msec-long pulses of sonication at a repetitive rate of 100 Hz to the thalamic areas of the brain. The acoustic intensity (130 mW/cm2) used in the experiment was sufficiently within the range of safety guidelines for the clinical ultrasound imaging. The occurrence of epileptic EEG bursts from epilepsy-induced rats significantly decreased after sonication when it was compared to the pre-sonication epileptic state. The PTZ-induced control group that did not receive any sonication showed a sustained number of epileptic EEG signal bursts. The animals that underwent sonication also showed less severe epileptic behavior, as assessed by the Racine score. Histological analysis confirmed that the sonication did not cause any damage to the brain tissue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results revealed that low-intensity, pulsed FUS sonication suppressed the number of epileptic signal bursts using acute epilepsy model in animal. Due to its non-invasiveness and spatial selectivity, FUS may offer new perspectives for a possible non-invasive treatment of epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Byoung-Kyong
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bystritsky
authors.forename: Kwang-Ik
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Yongzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lee-So
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Maeng
authors.forename: Sang In
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yong-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Ferenc A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Jolesz
authors.forename: Seung-Schik
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yoo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013997:Time Factors; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010433:Pentylenetetrazole